The Lodge

The husband and I went for walk around The Lodge. It is such a great place for an Autumn walk because there are so many different types of fungi there!  It is not huge and so took us a couple of hours to wander round.

 

New Scientist Live

We visited New Scientist Live at Excel London. It was super easy to get to - about an hour from Cambridge with parking being £20 all day. I held off buying tickets for a long time and was glad I did as I got 40%.

New Scientist Live is a four day fest of all things scientific; there are five different zones you can explore – cosmos, technology, engineering, earth and humans. Everything from a Mars rover prototype, robots and the Bloodhound to insects and glitter and jewellery & everything in between.  Except it isn't really. It was really all about technology.   Having said that we did have fun... I also spent a lot of time fighting with myself not to buy all the books and toys and products that were there that I was fascinated by – and only came home with a t shirt and some VR card games. 

We played computer games...

made slime...

checked if we fast we could run..

made kites...

flew kites....

held insects...

played super mario brothers...

checked out a VR drive in the bloodhound car...

 and I and the husband checked out some of the talks which were more scientific!  It was quite a fun day out and super easy to drive from Cambridge.

Autumn walk

Today, in glorious sunshine, I went for a walk on my own round Wimpole! The garden was stunning and in the woodland belt the leaves were just starting to turn autumnal!

Zoology musuem

P and I went to visit the newly opened Zoology museum.

Lavender and Butterflies

P, E and myself visited the Hitchin Lavender farm. It costs £6 for adults and £3 for children between 5-14 where you get a good sized paper bag and a pair of scissors to pick the lavender, the wildflowers and the sunflowers (although the sunflowers cost an extra 50p a stem). Any extra bags you’d like for children or if you fancy a whole load of lavender, is another £4. The girls had so much fun collecting lavender (AND now we are back home have been busy in the garden creating potions) asking when they can go back!  It is not a place to go however if you are allergic to bees as there are a lot happily buzzing around (we didn't get stung) and there is no shade so we went early to avoid the midday sun!

 We then drove half an hour away to Jordan's Mill where the girls took part in their butterfly session (pre-booked). They made paper plates showing the lifecycle of a butterfly, decorated a butterfly biscuit and then decorated a butterfly hat. E felt it was a little young for her, but P had fun although they would have both liked a lot longer to decorate their hats!

 We then wondered round the mill gardens on a butterfy hunt and to complete a quiz where we had to hunt caterpillars which had facts on them!

The girls then played in their woodand play area before we drove home.

A week on Anglesey

We holidayed on the Isle of Anglesey - an  island in Wales, off the mainland's northwest coast acessed via 2 road bridges.

We started off by visiting Bodnant Garden, a National Trust property. This is a world-famous garden spanning 80 acres. It has two parts: the upper garden surrounds Bodnant House, a 1792 build remodelled by Pochin, and consists of terraced gardens and lawns and the lower section, or the Dell, comprising of the valley of the River Hiraethlyn, and forms a picturesque wild garden.  I loved the magical Dell, with its acres of green giant woodlands, riverbank and waterfall. In fact, some of the tallest Redwood trees in Britain can be found around the Dell. The steeply sided informal area contrasts wonderfully with the architectural nature of the terraced upper gardens. The location is unbeatable, too; Bodnant Garden boasts spectacular views across Snowdonia.

 We then drove to our holiday cottage and straight away we went to the beach for a quick paddle.

For out first day then visited South Stack. Here is one of the most famous lighthouses on the island, which you can visit if you can face the 400 steps down from the island, as well as the South Stack Cliffs RSPB Reserve, where we saw guillemots, puffins and razorbills.

 We then had another quick visit to the beach!

 The next morning was spent at Plas Newydd, a country house on the Menai Strait. The girls enjoyed the playground in the woods

 We then had a game of Frisbee Golf before exploring the house and grounds.

On the way back to our cottage we stopped off at Rhosneiger beach as my Mum had been their as a child! It was OK but mainly full of kite surfers! We preferred our local beach!

The following day in a rare day of rain this summer we climbed Mount Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales at 1,085 meters. Sadly there was no view at the top, but as we descended the rain stopped and the clouds began to clear.

The following day we also grey so we drove back to the mainland for the husband, I and E to do down the fastest zipline in the world!

 We then drove to Newborough Warren, where you walk through a beautiful pine forest to a beach which then at low tide means you can walk to Llanddwyn Island.  For centuries rabbits have grazed here (hence the term ‘Warren’), helping to maintain a species-rich habitat. In the 1950s myxomatosis drastically reduced their numbers leaving the dunes in a vulnerable condition, no longer able to support plants and animals. However, rabbit numbers are slowly increasing, and they now graze side by side with horses, helping to keep the dunes healthy by controlling unwanted vegetation.

Wednesday's treat was for my parents, G and myself went on a rib ride to the Skerries. Our 2 hour boat tour took us to the rocky islets, The Skerries and then afterwards over to South Stack which we had previously visited on foot. We saw such a variety of wildlife - arctic turns, puffins, seals as well as caves and cliffs making a breathtaking backdrop.

 That afternoon, we walked up to Holyhead mountain!

Our last full day saw E, P and myself going for a ribride to Puffin Island - this one has a lower minimum age as it doesn't go so far out to open sea compared to the Skerries Island trip. I loved looking a the beautiful houses on the edge of the Menai Straight! We were so lucky to see a variety of sea birds including puffins and seals and a pair of harbor porpoises.

We then visited Beaumaris on the east coast. We got an ice-cream from the award winning Red Boat Ice cream

before exploring the beautiful castle of Beauarmis. Edward I of England completed his conquest of Wales, with the construction of Beaumaris Castle beginning in 1295. This is how the town got its name – the workers on the castle were mostly French, and they referred to the marshland of the area as les beaux marais, “the beautiful marshes”. Beaumaris Castle was designed by the master stonemason, James of St George and is considered the finest example of a concentric castles. Unfortunately, it was never completed as funds were diverted to help finance Edward’s invasion of Scotland.